Took a little longer then usual to update.. Sorry about that.. Had a couple of things I had to deal with...

So here it is.. Another chapter.. Enjoy! =]

CHAPTER NINE: CONSTANT

February 1977

"Ouch!"

"Wasn't my fault!"

"Why was your foot on my toe?!"

"Why was your toe under my foot?"

"Shut up you two!"

James, Sirius and Remus were doing as planned. Stalking Moseley. They were stood outside at the stone circle, peering down towards Hagrid's Hut. Tom was there, talking to a seventh year Ravenclaw girl.

"Who do you reckon that girl is?" James asked. The girl was a tall brunette.

"Isn't she Head Girl?" Remus said squinting to get a better look.

"So, he's with more then just Lily and that Kate girl", Sirius said. It was more of a statement then a question.

"What a surprise", Remus' tone was sarcastic.

"Why can't we just tell Lily?" James moaned. He didn't want to have to lie to her. "We've been at this for ages".

"We've been at it…" Sirius checked Remus' watch. "An hour".

"Exactly, ages!"

---

"He told you he loved you?" Lily asked Selena smiling.

"Yeah", Selena said, beaming. "It was really cute 'cause he was so nervous. Thought I didn't feel the same way".

"Aw. But you do?"

"Course I do", Selena said fondly. "Do you know how he said it?" Lily looked at her friend expectantly. "He said, I was his Lily". Lily blinked. "That he felt the same way about me, as James does for you".

Lily knew the day would come for her to talk about her feelings towards James Potter. Today was not that day. She knew he loved her. Well she knew he felt as if he did, he had told her that night after drinking too much Elixir to Induce Euphoria. But she didn't how she felt, and wasn't prepared to even think about it when she had a boyfriend.

"He loves you, you know", Selena said when Lily didn't speak. They were walking down the covered bridge.

"I know he thinks he does", Lily managed to say. She stopped walking and leaned over the side of the bridge. She could see the black lake, completely frozen over.

"No, he does", Selena said earnestly, joining Lily. "I've never said anything before because I knew you hated him. But that's different now". She looked at Lily expectantly. Lily nodded slowly. "Tom's no good for you".

"No good for me?" Lily asked irritated. "How do you know that?"

"You're too good for him", Selena said slightly taken aback by Lily's reaction.

"You don't even know him", Lily said coldly. "You don't even stick around to say anything other then hi". It was true, Selena never even tried to be friends with Tom, although Lily had tried her best with Sirius.

"Because he hates me!" Selena said, half shouting.

"No he doesn't. You only see what you want to see!" Lily did shout. Selena looked slighted and looked as if she was about to say something, but she seemed to think better of it and stalked out towards the stone circle.

Lily felt bad. Selena was her best friend and she shouldn't have snapped at her. Lily had many uncertainties about her relationship with Tom and hearing them from someone else had made them real. It was time to confront Tom.

---

"Selena", Sirius said upon seeing her. Him, Remus and James were sat down on the stones in the stone circle. Sirius got up and put his arms around her. She smiled half-heartedly. "What's wrong?" Selena told them that she had had a little fight with Lily about Tom.

"He is no good for her", Remus said sadly.

"Yeah, don't worry. She'll come around", Sirius said. He was still holding Selena and he rubbed her arm as he said this. James said nothing. This argument with Selena just showed that Lily really cared about Tom. They would have to help her find out.

***

"Got it", Peter said coming down the stairs from the boys dormitory, huffing slightly. He dropped a large pile of parchment on the table in front of Sirius.

"You got all this information in one day of watching him?" Remus asked incredulously, getting up from his seat and coming to stand near the table.

"Yeah", Peter said enthusiastically. "What do you think?" James leaned over in his chair and looked at it. He pulled the pile towards him, it was heavier then he had expected.

"Tom ruffled his golden blond hair and laughed a cocky laugh…" James read. Him, Sirius and Remus stared at Peter, a look of disbelief on their faces.

"You said you wanted details", Peter said defensively.

"You know Wormtail", Sirius said looking at the pile. "You'd make a good writer. 'Tom walked with a swagger towards the loo'"

"Why do we need to know that?" James asked Peter. Peter just shrugged. At least he had managed to get enough information on him.

"I'm going to go to bed", Peter said. "I'm really tired". He trotted off back up the stairs.

"Considering the size of this", Remus indicated the pile. "I'm not surprised".

"So what's the plan then?" James asked. He was getting tired of all the research and no action.

"We tell Lily that dungbombs have been set off in a place we know Tom and Kate are going to be", Remus said excitedly.

"And let her catch them in the act", James said. That seemed like a good enough plan. For now. They read through the large wad of parchment, more like skimmed and took out important pieces of information.

"So they like going to the astronomy tower", Remus said thoughtfully looking at the piece of parchment on which he had written more appropriate notes.

"We could get one of us to keep watch, to make sure they're actually there and then someone else can go tip off Lily", James said. Remus nodded and scribbled something on the parchment. Sirius let out a bark like laughter, the other two boys looked at him puzzled.

"This is really good reading material", Sirius said laughing, he was reading through Peter's notes. Remus shook his head. James got up and looked over Sirius' shoulder it. "'He tenderly stroked her…' What does that say? Lips or hips?"

"Lips?" James said squinting his eyes, trying to decipher the handwriting.

"Must be hips", Remus said confidently.

"Maybe it's both?" James offered.

"How would you manage that", Remus said attempting to stroke an invisible girls lips and hips at the same time, making it look as if he was a doing a really bad dance move. Lily and Selena walked past at that moment, stopping to observe Remus' absurd behaviour. They giggled. Remus saw them then and stowed his hands in his pockets, looking sheepish.

"Have you boys been drinking Elixir again?" Selena asked, walking over to Sirius to look at what he was reading. Sirius snatched it away from her at once and she glared at him.

"It's a secret thing… So… Yeah", Sirius managed to say. James made a whip noise and Lily laughed. "I'm not whipped!" Selena raised her eyebrows at him and then stalked off towards the stairs to the girls' dormitory. Sirius ran after her.

"He is so whipped", Lily said smiling at her friend arguing with Sirius. Their fight about Tom was long forgotten now.

"Yep", Remus said, he had cleverly hidden his notes in his pocket during the conversation. "I'm going to go to bed". That meant that they would continue their plans in the dormitory. It was no longer safe in the common room. He went up the stairs to the boys' dormitory.

"So Lily", James said in a casual tone, eyeing Peter's notes on Tom that were dangerously close to Lily. "How was your day?"

"It was good", Lily said. "I found a huge spider web on the third floor corridor and got 10 house points for discovering it. You wouldn't know who was responsible now would you?"

"Hey, it wasn't us", James said defensively. It actually wasn't them, for once.

"If you say so", Lily said, looking as if she didn't entirely believe him. "What is this anyway?" She indicated the notes. James made to grab them, but Lily got them first.

"'He made towards the grounds, jogging slightly, his blond hair bouncing in the wind'", Lily looked up at James, perplexed. "Is this gay porn?" James laughed and took it from her hand.

"It's Peter's", James said. He had to make up something so he said, "He's thinking of becoming a writer". Lily opened her mouth to say something, but James said, "No, not a writer of gay porn". Lily laughed. She seemed to believe him. Phew.

***

"You know part of this does sound rather gay", Sirius said reading through Peter's notes yet again.

"Nah", Remus said pointing at a line on the parchment. "See".

"'She is too good for him, her succulent lips…'" Sirius read. "Ah, he has a thing for Kate".

"Maybe we should get them together after we're done with James and Lily".

"Yeah, we'll be matchmakers", Sirius said enthusiastically.

"You two are so gay", James said shaking his head and turning to look at Lily who sat two tables away. They were sat in Defence Against the Dark Arts and had been told to do theory out of the textbook for once.

"At least we're helping your sorry arse", Sirius said. James rolled his eyes, Sirius spoke to Remus, "So do we know if they're going to be there for certain?"

"Yeah, Peter said so, I had him on Moseley duty usual", Remus said.

"Okay, so plan A is in motion".

***

"And how do you know that Sirius?" Lily asked him disbelievingly. Lily, Sirius, Selena, Remus and James were all stood on a seventh floor corridor. Lessons had just finished and Lily and Selena had been on a walk when the guys had found them. 'Coincidentally' as usual.

"Because I, Sirius Orion Black, Marauder, Chaser and Sex God-"

"I'll be the judge of that", Selena said. Lily, James and Remus laughed. Sirius went slightly pink, cleared his throat and began again.

"I, Sirius Orion Black, Marauder, Chaser and possibly a sex god-" Everyone sniggered. "-am omniscient".

"Oh really?" Selena said amused.

"Yeah, plus I heard some guys talking about it", Sirius said trying to sound convincing. Lily looked at him sceptically. Well he must be telling the truth. There wasn't much reason for him to lie. Especially to Selena, she would probably hurt him if he lied to her.

"Typical for it to be guys", Lily said to Selena. "You never see girls doing these kind of things". Selena nodded in agreement.

"So you're going to go check it out?" James asked eagerly. Why did he want Lily to go check so bad? That was odd.

"Yeah", Lily said and her and Selena made their way to the Astronomy tower.

---

"Where are they?" Sirius asked James. James checked the Marauders Map. There were two dots in the Astronomy Tower. Tom Moseley and Kate Wilson.

"They're there", James said. They didn't seem to be moving.

"Let's go", Remus said. James put the map away and they followed Lily and Selena at a run as they had lagged behind.

***

"Someone's coming"

"So?"

"We can't let anyone know Kate. I have a girlfriend".

Kate sighed. She was sick of sneaking around. She wanted Tom, but not like this. She didn't want to be someone's dirty little secret. She snatched her hands away from Tom and looked out over the grounds. The footsteps grew louder and louder until…

"Lily"

"Tom"

Kate turned around to see Lily Evans standing at the door with Adams, Potter, Black and Lupin. Pettigrew was stood behind them too.

"What are you doing here honey", Tom said in a smooth voice, moving towards Lily.

"I might ask you the same question", Lily said to him. She looked as if she wouldn't believe his excuses this time.

"I heard there was a commotion up here so me and Kate came to check it out", Tom lied.

"Oh, yeah that's why we're here too", Lily said. She believed him. Idiot. Kate had half a mind to tell Lily the truth, but that might mean Tom wouldn't want Kate anymore. And she would not let that happen.

---

She believed him! That smooth talking son-on-of-a-bitch. They had to try harder.

James looked over at his two best friends who had the same shocked look on their faces.

"Time for Plan B", Sirius whispered so that only Remus and James could hear him.

"What's plan B?" James asked.

"No idea"


Please Read and Review! Xx

And i'm not entirely sure how far i want to go in James and Lily's lives with this story. If you have any suggestions please let me know =] Xx